RSS
Argentina to Declare National Day of Mourning to Honor Israeli-Argentine Bibas Children Killed in Hamas Captivity
Armed Palestinian carry one of the four coffins during the handover of the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Khan Yunis. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa via Reuters Connect
Argentina is set to declare a national day of mourning for the brothers Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the two young children with dual Israeli-Argentine citizenship whose dead bodies were returned to Israel on Thursday by Hamas terrorists who kidnapped them a year and a half ago.
Also returned to Israel were the dead bodies of their mother, Shiri Bibas, 32, and fellow Hamas hostage and Israeli citizen Oded Lifshitz, 84. Ariel was 5 years old and Kfir was 2 at their time of death. They are Argentinian by way of their father, Yarden Bibas, who was also abducted during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, before being freed earlier this month as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Kfir was abducted when he was 9 months old, making him the youngest hostage kidnapped by terrorists from Israel during the Oct. 7 massacre and the youngest to have been killed.
“I am informed by the government that they will wait for official information on the DNA results of the bodies and that, if confirmed, Argentina will then declare a National Day of Mourning in their honor, ” Sabrina Ajmeche, president of the Argentine Commission for Human Rights, said Wednesday on X.
In a separate post announcing Argentine President Javier Milei’s decision to declare a day of national mourning for the Bibas children, she said, “Thank you, President, for your commitment to democracy, to freedom, to Western values and to the fight against terrorism.”
“Kfir and Ariel were both Argentine citizens,” she added. “Two Argentine babies killed by Hamas terrorism. I hope that after this I never have to hear again that what happens in Israel and Gaza is not our business, or that of all Argentines.”
Milei, who won Argentina’s November 2023 presidential election, has publicly spoken about his support for Israel and Judaism, both of which were central components in his presidential campaign. During his visit to the Jewish state in February 2024 – his first international trip since taking office – he visited Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Negev, where the Bibas family and Lifshitz were abducted. Nearly 25 percent of Nir Oz’s residents were either murdered or kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre orchestrated by Hamas. Milei said at the time that he was traveling to Israel to “express my support against the attacks by the terrorist group Hamas.” Milei is also working to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization in Argentina.
Thursday marked the first time that the Hamas terrorist organization has released the remains of dead hostages since its attack on Israel in October 2023. Lifshitz was married for 63 years, a father of four, journalist, and peace activist for six decades. He helped found Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he was abducted from his home on Oct. 7, 2023, along with his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz. She was released by Hamas on Oct. 24, 2023.
Shiri, Yarden, and their two children were also kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yarden was released by Hamas on Feb. 1, and was one of the 19 living Israeli hostages freed so far as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal that took effect on Jan. 19.
The Lifshitz family released a statement on Thursday following confirmation of Oded’s death.
“We received with deep sorrow the official and bitter news confirming the identification of our beloved Oded’s body,” they said. “503 agonizing days of uncertainty have come to an end. We had hoped and prayed so much for a different outcome. Now we can mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who has been missing from us since Oct. 7. Our family’s healing process will begin now and will not end until the last hostage is returned.”
Hamas paraded the bodies of the four hostages and held a public ceremony on Thursday in the Gaza Strip before handing them over to the Red Cross. On a stage, they placed the four black coffins, and each casket had a small picture of the hostages. Displayed on screen behind the caskets was a poster of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with fangs in this mouth and blood on his face, and a picture of the Bibas family. A message on the post described Netanyahu as a “war criminal,” and accused Israel’s prime minister, his “Nazi army,” and “Zionist warplanes” of being responsible for the death of Shiri and her two sons.
Hamas claimed in November 2023 that Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but Israel has never been able to confirm their deaths and Hamas never provided evidence to support its claims.
Footage from Thursday’s ceremony in Gaza showed hundreds of Palestinians in attendance, including many of whom brought children to watch the spectacle and see the transport of the dead bodies at the handover site. According to Israeli media, Hamas also locked the coffins and transferred them to Israel with keys that did not fit. Locals in Gaza additionally chased the Red Cross vehicles as they drove away from the handover site with the bodies of the hostages, as seen in video circulating on Telegram.
Hamas will release six living hostages on Saturday, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, as part of the ceasefire agreement.
The post Argentina to Declare National Day of Mourning to Honor Israeli-Argentine Bibas Children Killed in Hamas Captivity first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
‘Child Killers’: Jewish Activists Doused With Red Paint in Germany While Hanging Up Hostage Posters
i24 News – Masked attackers doused with red paint and shoved German Jewish activists hanging up posters of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza in Frankfurt on Friday. The assailants shouted “child killers” and “free Palestine.”
Sacha Stawski, a German-Jewish activist who heads the media watchdog NGO Honestly Concerned, who’s spent decades combating antisemitism, spoke to local media about the incident.
“We attached posters with photos of the 50 hostages still in Hamas’s captivity to a fence in the Frankfurt Grüneburgpark,” Stawski told the Bild outlet. “We were branded ‘child killers,’ and I constantly heard ‘Free Palestine,’ and ‘genocide’ calls.”
The paint also poured over my glasses, making it difficult for me to identify the perpetrator,” he added.
Germany’s ambassador to Israel condemned the incident.
The small pro-hostage rally took place near an anarchist encampment housing several anti-Israel organizations. Stawski said this was announced to the camp organizers.
Meanwhile a German government spokesman said on Friday that Berlin currently has no plans to recognize a Palestinian state because that would undermine any efforts to reach a negotiated solution with Israel.
RSS
Hegseth Fires Head of Intel Agency Whose Assessment of Damage from Iran Strikes Angered Trump
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
i24 News – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from US strikes sparked the ire of President Donald Trump.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, US media reported, citing sources speaking on condition of anonymity.
The sacking is the latest upheaval in military leadership and in the country’s intelligence agencies, and comes a few months after details of the preliminary assessment leaked to the media.
The assessment found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months by the bombings, contradicting assertions from Trump and from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Republican president, who had pronounced the Iranian program “completely and fully obliterated,” rejected the report.
n June, Israel launched a devastating bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, missile production and military leadership, saying the operation was necessary to prevent the mullah regime from realizing its oft-stated plan to annihilate the Jewish state.
During the ensuing 12-day war, the US joined in, striking key Iranian nuclear sites.
Following the June strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, Hegseth lambasted the press for focusing on the preliminary assessment but did not offer any direct evidence of the destruction of the facilities.
“You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated — choose your word. This was a historically successful attack,” Hegseth said at a news conference at the time.
RSS
Amid Rising Antisemitism, American Jews Make Aliyah to Israel Seeking Safety, Community, Impact
Olim gather at JFK Airport in New York, preparing to board Nefesh B’Nefesh’s 65th charter flight to Israel. Photo: The Algemeiner
NEW YORK/TEL AVIV — Confronted with rising antisemitism and unease in the United States, a growing number of American Jews are choosing to make aliyah, embracing the risks of war in the Middle East for the chance to build new lives and foster meaningful communities.
On Wednesday, 225 new olim arrived in Tel Aviv on the first charter aliyah flight since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Aliyah refers to the process of Jews immigrating to Israel, and olim refers to those who make this journey.
Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) — a nonprofit that promotes and facilitates aliyah from the US and Canada — brought its 65th charter flight from New York, which The Algemeiner joined.
Founded in 2002, NBN helps olim become fully integrated members of Israeli society, simplifying the aliyah process and providing essential resources and guidance.
In partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth, and the Jewish National Fund, NBN has helped nearly 100,000 olim build thriving new lives in Israel.
Shawn Fink is one of the 225 people who embarked on the life-changing journey earlier this week, leaving Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Liz, and their son.
For Fink and his family, making aliyah was driven not only by their love for Israel and desire to build a new community, but also by the escalating threats and uncertainties facing Jewish communities abroad since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
“Mostly, we were frustrated with the direction the United States is taking, and the rise in antisemitism was a major concern for us,” Fink told The Algemeiner.
Like many countries around the world, the US has seen an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Oct. 7 atrocities.
According to the latest data issued by the FBI, hate crimes perpetrated against Jews increased by 5.8 percent in 2024 to 1,938, the largest total recorded in over 30 years of the federal agency’s counting them.
A striking 69 percent of all religion-based hate crimes that were reported to the FBI in 2024 targeted Jews, who constitute just 2 percent of the US population, with 2,041 out of 2,942 total such incidents being antisemitic in nature. Muslims were targeted the next highest amount as the victims of 256 offenses, or about 9 percent of the total.
Fink explained that the increasing costs of living a Jewish life in the US — from education to kosher food — weighed heavily on his family’s decision to make the move to Israel.
While they first considered making aliyah five years ago, Fink and his family had to put the plans on hold for personal reasons — returning to the idea only in the past few months when the timing finally worked in their favor.
“We started planning it seriously in November and began the entire process with Nefesh B’Nefesh,” Fink told The Algemeiner. “It’s been a nonstop whirlwind ever since.”
For them, the current war did not stop their plans, but it did influence the cities they explored for their new home.
“The war really reinforced for us the importance of supporting Israel and our community,” Fink said. “By making aliyah, we felt we could do even more to help.”
Even though it is difficult to leave behind family and close friends, they look forward to reconnecting with friends in Israel, making new connections, and building a vibrant new community.
“Making aliyah in less than six months has been a whirlwind. I’d encourage anyone considering it to give themselves at least twice as much time, double the budget, and be prepared for plenty of unexpected starts and stops along the way,” Fink told The Algemeiner.
Nefesh B’Nefesh provides assistance to families throughout their entire aliyah journey, offering guidance before relocating and continued support once in Israel.
The Israeli government also complements these efforts with resources and financial incentives to help newcomers settle and ease their transition into their new lives.
“Once the ticket is finally in your hand and you’re waiting to board the plane, you realize that all the challenges and obstacles along the way were worth it,” Fink said.
Veronica Zaragovia was also one of the 225 olim who joined the flight earlier this week.
Similarly to Fink and his family, Zaragovia decided to make aliyah, driven not just by her love for Israel, but also by the increasing challenges of being Jewish abroad and the hope of making a meaningful impact by serving her community.
From Florida, she embarked on the journey alone, excited for all the new opportunities and possibilities that awaited her in her new home.
“I want to take pride in being Jewish and in Israel — that’s why I’m making aliyah,” she told The Algemeiner, reflecting on the move she has been planning for the past two years.
“It’s a huge concern for me that in some places in the US, I can’t — or maybe shouldn’t — wear my Star of David necklace,” she said. “I don’t feel that Jews can be fully safe anywhere in the country. The rise in antisemitism has been truly shocking and deeply concerning.”
Zaragovia, who worked as a journalist in the US, said her love for storytelling and uncovering the truth played a key role in her decision to make this move.
“After Oct. 7, I felt that the way my colleagues and other journalists were covering Israel was wrong and unfair,” she said.
“As someone whose career is built on facts and truth, I didn’t see that reflected in their reporting. That’s why I decided to make a difference by being there myself,” she continued.
Rather than deterring her decision to make a change, Zaragovia explained that the current war only reinforced it.
“It became clear that I needed to go, be there with my people, and make a difference through my work,” she said. “I couldn’t have done this without Nefesh B’Nefesh. They’ve been incredible, guiding me every step of the way from start to finish.”